optional · CSS study notes
Past-Paper MCQs & Long-Question Bank — Ch 1
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How to use this page. (1) Attempt the 25 MCQs under a 20-minute timer, then check the key. (2) Read the must-know facts the MCQs are built on. (3) For long questions, write the blueprint from memory, then compare. Full model answers for the real 2016–2026 questions are on the sibling page "Past Papers & Model Answers — Ch 1".
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Honest note on the MCQs. These are original practice MCQs in FPSC Part-I style, built from facts that CSS Criminology Chapter 1 repeatedly tests. They are not copied from past papers and they are not predictions. I could not access the official Part-I MCQ sets, so if you have the actual papers, tick off which of these facts already appeared.
⚡ Must-Know Facts (the MCQ cheat sheet)
- Term: Criminology coined by Raffaele Garofalo (1885, Criminologia); the French form criminologie was used by Paul Topinard. Crime from Latin crimen = accusation or charge; -logy from Greek = study.
- Definition: Sutherland: the body of knowledge about crime as a social phenomenon, covering making laws, breaking laws, reacting to law-breaking.
- Three divisions (Sutherland): Sociology of law (making), criminal etiology (causes), penology (reaction/punishment).
- Broadest to narrowest: deviance → vice / sin → crime (crime is the narrowest, legally defined).
- Crime definitions: legal, sociological, normative (Sellin), consensus, conflict, interactionist (labelling: Becker).
- Sutherland = symbolic interactionist; gave white-collar crime and differential association.
- Cartographic / geographical school: Quetelet and Guerry (1830s France), first use of crime statistics and mapping.
- Instrumental crime = means to an end (robbery, fraud). Expressive crime = emotional release (assault in rage).
- Garofalo: natural crime offends pity and probity.
- Mala in se (wrong in itself) vs mala prohibita (wrong because prohibited). Nullum crimen sine lege = no crime without law.
- Methods: survey, cohort (longitudinal forward, retrospective backward), official records, experimental (best for cause and effect), observation/interviews, meta-analysis.
- Crime data: UCR (police-recorded), NCVS (victim surveys), self-report; dark figure of crime = unreported or unrecorded crime.
- Routine Activities Theory (Cohen and Felson): motivated offender + suitable target + absence of capable guardian.
- Security (syllabus): physical, social, economic; UNDP 1994 human security.
- Pakistan hooks: PECA 2016, Anti-Terrorism Act 1997, Police Order 2002, Probation of Offenders Ordinance 1960, NACTA, NAB, FIA, ANF, PFSA, AMLA 2010.
📝 25 Practice MCQs (FPSC Part-I style)
Q1. The term "criminology" (Criminologia) was coined in 1885 by:
- A. Cesare Lombroso
- B. Raffaele Garofalo
- C. Enrico Ferri
- D. Cesare Beccaria
Q2. The word "crime" derives from the Latin crimen, which means:
- A. to punish
- B. to accuse or charge
- C. to kill
- D. to forbid
Q3. According to Sutherland, criminology includes the making of laws, the breaking of laws and:
- A. only the punishment of offenders
- B. the reaction toward the breaking of laws
- C. the teaching of moral values
- D. only the recording of crime statistics
Q4. The scientific study of the causes of crime is called:
- A. penology
- B. criminal etiology
- C. victimology
- D. sociology of law
Q5. Penology is mainly concerned with:
- A. causes of crime
- B. making of laws
- C. punishment, prisons and control of offenders
- D. measuring crime rates
Q6. Which is the broadest of the following concepts?
- A. crime
- B. sin
- C. vice
- D. deviance
Q7. Which view holds that laws mainly reflect the interests of powerful groups?
- A. consensus view
- B. conflict view
- C. functionalist view
- D. positivist view
Q8. "No act is inherently criminal; it becomes crime when society labels it so." This reflects the:
- A. legal view
- B. interactionist view
- C. biological view
- D. consensus view
Q9. Edwin Sutherland is best known for:
- A. anomie and strain
- B. differential association and the concept of white-collar crime
- C. the "born criminal"
- D. broken-windows policing
Q10. The cartographic (geographical) school of criminology is associated with:
- A. Quetelet and Guerry
- B. Lombroso and Ferri
- C. Beccaria and Bentham
- D. Merton and Cohen
Q11. A crime committed as a means to a tangible reward (for example robbery) is called:
- A. expressive crime
- B. instrumental crime
- C. victimless crime
- D. status offence
Q12. Expressive crime is best described as:
- A. carefully planned for profit
- B. an emotional release in the heat of the moment, such as assault in rage
- C. committed only by organised groups
- D. always a property crime
Q13. The "dark figure of crime" refers to:
- A. crimes committed at night
- B. crimes that are unreported or unrecorded
- C. crimes by juveniles
- D. organised crime
Q14. Routine Activities Theory (Cohen and Felson) says crime needs a motivated offender, a suitable target and:
- A. a weak family
- B. the absence of a capable guardian
- C. a gang
- D. a weapon
Q15. A study that follows the same individuals over time is a:
- A. cross-sectional survey
- B. longitudinal cohort study
- C. meta-analysis
- D. official-record analysis
Q16. The research design best able to establish cause and effect is the:
- A. survey
- B. observation
- C. randomised experiment
- D. analysis of official records
Q17. The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) is based mainly on:
- A. victim surveys
- B. self-report surveys
- C. offences recorded by police
- D. court judgements
Q18. Garofalo's idea of "natural crime" refers to acts that offend the sentiments of:
- A. honour and shame
- B. pity and probity
- C. fear and anger
- D. loyalty and obedience
Q19. Mala in se means:
- A. wrong because prohibited by law
- B. wrong in itself
- C. a civil wrong
- D. an administrative wrong
Q20. In the human-security framework, physical security means:
- A. protection of property and jobs
- B. stability of social institutions and trust
- C. freedom from bodily harm, violence and threats to life
- D. access to education
Q21. The sub-branch that studies how environments, areas and places influence crime is:
- A. criminal ecology
- B. criminal psychology
- C. criminal demography
- D. penology
Q22. Victimology mainly studies:
- A. the criminal's family
- B. the victim, the victim-offender relationship and the causes of victimisation
- C. only compensation law
- D. police procedure
Q23. Which school stressed free will, rational choice and proportionate punishment?
- A. positivist school
- B. classical school
- C. Chicago school
- D. cartographic school
Q24. The sociology of law examines:
- A. how law is made as a social institution and whose interests it reflects
- B. forensic evidence
- C. prison architecture
- D. police recruitment
Q25. Pakistan's law passed in 2016 mainly to deal with cybercrime is the:
- A. Anti-Terrorism Act
- B. Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA)
- C. Probation of Offenders Ordinance
- D. Police Order
✅ Answer Key with One-Line Reasons
| Q | Ans | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | B | Garofalo's Criminologia (1885). Lombroso is the father of criminal anthropology; Beccaria of the classical school. |
| 2 | B | Latin crimen = accusation or charge. |
| 3 | B | Sutherland: making laws, breaking laws, reacting toward breaking of laws. |
| 4 | B | Etiology = causes. Penology = punishment; victimology = victims. |
| 5 | C | Penology studies punishment, prisons and control of offenders. |
| 6 | D | Deviance is any norm violation; crime is the narrow, legally defined subset. |
| 7 | B | Conflict view: law serves powerful groups. Consensus view: law reflects broad agreement. |
| 8 | B | Interactionist (labelling) view. |
| 9 | B | Sutherland: differential association and white-collar crime. |
| 10 | A | Quetelet and Guerry, 1830s France: crime follows statistical regularities. |
| 11 | B | Instrumental crime is a means to an end. |
| 12 | B | Expressive crime is emotional, not for gain. |
| 13 | B | Dark figure = gap between actual and recorded crime. |
| 14 | B | Opportunity needs offender + target + no capable guardian. |
| 15 | B | Longitudinal cohort follows the same people forward in time. |
| 16 | C | Random assignment to treatment and control groups gives the strongest causal inference. |
| 17 | C | UCR compiles police-recorded offences; NCVS is a victim survey. |
| 18 | B | Pity (respect for persons) and probity (respect for property/honesty). |
| 19 | B | Mala in se = wrong in itself; mala prohibita = wrong because prohibited. |
| 20 | C | Physical security = freedom from violence and threats to life. |
| 21 | A | Criminal ecology studies the environment and place. |
| 22 | B | Victimology: the victim and the victim-offender relationship. |
| 23 | B | Classical school (Beccaria, Bentham). |
| 24 | A | Sociology of law = law as a social institution (the making phase). |
| 25 | B | PECA 2016. |
Scoring guide: 22 to 25 = exam ready; 18 to 21 = revise the must-know facts; below 18 = re-read the chapter and retake in 3 days.
🧩 Long-Question Bank (blueprints)
| # | Question | Status | Blueprint (write these headings first) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nature, importance and scope of criminology (in Pakistan) | Past: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023, 2025 | Definition (Sutherland) → nature (multidisciplinary, empirical, dynamic, applied) → 7-fold scope → importance (causation, policy, prevention, reform, victim welfare) → Pakistan (PECA, NACTA, PFSA) → critical point → conclusion |
| 2 | Crime vs deviance, sin and vice; is crime a major social problem in Pakistan? | Past: 2022 | Four-term distinction (deviance broadest) → why crime is a social problem (social causes, collective harm, structural remedy) → Pakistan evidence → conflict-perspective twist → conclusion |
| 3 | Crime as a social problem; how perception varies across societies | Past: 2024 | Concept → three reasons it is a social problem → variation (legal-cultural relativity, development level, media and moral panic, institutional trust, value system) → comparison Pakistan vs West → conclusion |
| 4 | Declining public trust, deviance, non-cooperation and social resistance | Past: 2026 | Hirschi's bond → legal cynicism → non-reporting and dark figure → vigilantism (jirga, mob justice) → resistance and radicalisation → Merton's innovation → remedies → conclusion |
| 5 | Sociology of law, criminal etiology, penology (short note, 5 marks) | Past: 2020 | One tight paragraph each + triad: make → break → react |
| 6 | Define crime from legal, sociological and interactionist perspectives; consensus vs conflict | Likely | Legal (nullum crimen sine lege; mala in se / prohibita) → sociological (norms, Sellin) → interactionist (labelling, Becker) → consensus vs conflict → evaluation → conclusion: no single definition |
| 7 | Is criminology a science? Trace its development | Likely | Pre-classical → classical → positivist → 20th-century sociological → scientific method → debate (value-laden object) → conclusion |
| 8 | Interdisciplinary nature and sub-branches of criminology | Likely | Sociology, political science, psychology, economics, natural science → five sub-branches (sociology, psychology, ecology, demography, victimology) → Pakistan example for each |
| 9 | Methods of studying and measuring crime | Likely | Survey, cohort, official records, experiment, observation, meta-analysis → UCR, NCVS, self-report (compare) → dark figure → Pakistan data problems |
| 10 | Instrumental and expressive crime; implications for prevention | Likely | Definitions and examples → motives → prevention (deterrence and opportunity reduction vs anger management and mental-health support) → Pakistan examples |
| 11 | Cartographic school and crime mapping | Likely | Quetelet and Guerry → statistical regularity → contribution (first crime statistics, ground for sociological approach) → modern hotspot mapping in Pakistan police |
| 12 | Crime and security: physical, social and economic | Likely (syllabus line) | Three dimensions → how each type of crime undermines each → UNDP 1994 human security → Pakistan examples (terrorism, extortion, money laundering) |
📝 Model Answer A: Is Criminology a Science? Trace Its Development
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OUTLINE (write first, about 3 minutes)
- Introduction: criminology defined (Sutherland); thesis: it is an empirical social science, with limits
- Development of thought: pre-classical → classical → positivist → sociological
- Why it counts as a science: scientific method, data, theory testing, replication
- Objections: value-laden and socially constructed subject, relative definition of crime
- Modern interdisciplinary, evidence-based practice
- Pakistan angle: data gaps, institutions
- Conclusion
1. Introduction. Criminology is the body of knowledge about crime as a social phenomenon, covering the making of laws, the breaking of laws and the reaction to law-breaking (Sutherland). Whether it is a science depends on whether it uses systematic, testable methods. This answer argues that modern criminology is an empirical social science, although its subject matter limits how objective it can be.
2. Development of thought
- Pre-classical: crime explained by demons, sin and religion; punishment arbitrary and harsh.
- Classical school (18th century): Beccaria (On Crimes and Punishments, 1764) and Bentham argued people have free will and weigh pleasure against pain, so punishment should be certain, swift and proportionate.
- Positivist school (19th century): Lombroso, Ferri and Garofalo shifted attention from the act to the offender and insisted on observation and data; the biological theories were later discredited, but the method survived.
- Cartographic school: Quetelet and Guerry used statistics to show crime follows social regularities.
- 20th century: Chicago School (social disorganisation), Merton's strain, Sutherland's differential association, labelling and conflict theories.
3. Why it is a science. It forms hypotheses, collects data (surveys, official records, victimisation surveys, experiments), tests theories, and relies on replication and peer review. It uses statistics and draws on psychology, biology and sociology.
4. Objections. Crime is defined by law and varies by time and place, so the object of study is socially constructed; researchers' values can shape what is studied; official data undercount crime (the dark figure). Experiments are often ethically impossible.
5. Modern practice. Criminology today is interdisciplinary and evidence-based (meta-analyses, risk assessment, crime mapping).
6. Pakistan. Reliable criminal statistics are limited by underreporting, yet institutions such as the PFSA, NACTA, NAB and FIA increasingly use data and forensic methods.
7. Conclusion. Criminology meets the standard of a social science through method rather than certainty; its value lies in replacing moral panic with evidence, while remaining humble about the limits of measuring a socially defined phenomenon.
📝 Model Answer B: The Interdisciplinary Nature and Sub-Branches of Criminology
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OUTLINE (write first, about 3 minutes)
- Introduction: definition and why one discipline is not enough
- Links with five fields: sociology, political science, psychology, economics, natural science (one concept + one Pakistan example each)
- Five sub-branches: criminal sociology, psychology, ecology, demography, victimology
- Core branches (Sutherland): sociology of law, etiology, penology
- Why interdisciplinarity improves policy
- Limits and conclusion
1. Introduction. Crime has legal, social, psychological, economic and biological dimensions, so no single discipline can explain it. Criminology is therefore interdisciplinary: it borrows concepts and methods from several fields to build a fuller picture.
2. Links with other disciplines
- Sociology: differential association, social control, learning and labelling theories show how social interaction shapes behaviour. Pakistan: peer and gang influence in urban slums.
- Political science: the state and legislature decide what counts as crime. Pakistan: the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and PECA 2016.
- Psychology: personality, thought and motivation can push someone toward crime. Pakistan: radicalisation and de-radicalisation programmes.
- Economics: poverty, inequality and class or gender discrimination raise risk; areas with poverty and heavy migration often show more crime. Pakistan: extortion and street crime in fast-growing cities.
- Natural science: biological and genetic explanations and forensic science. Pakistan: DNA and forensic work at the PFSA.
3. Sub-branches
- Criminal sociology: how society affects and is affected by crime.
- Criminal psychology: the thoughts, will and intentions of the offender.
- Criminal ecology: how environment and place influence crime (hotspots).
- Criminal demography: the role of ethnicity, gender and location in crime patterns.
- Victimology: the victim, the victim-offender relationship and how victim conduct or vulnerability matters.
4. Sutherland's core branches. Sociology of law (making of laws), criminal etiology (breaking of laws, the causes), penology (reaction: punishment and corrections).
5. Why it matters for policy. Because causes are many, policy must combine social programmes, economic opportunity, mental-health services, fair laws and good policing.
6. Conclusion. Criminology's strength is its ability to combine many lenses; the best explanations and policies in Pakistan will be those that connect law, society, economy and psychology rather than relying on punishment alone.
🔁 Revision Plan for This Page
- Day 1: read must-know facts; attempt MCQs 1 to 25 under a timer.
- Day 2: write blueprints for long questions 1 to 4 from memory.
- Day 3: write one full answer (choose from 1, 3 or 4) in 30 minutes; compare with the model answers on the sibling page.
- Day 4 onwards: reattempt wrong MCQs; add new facts to your Weak Areas list.